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Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) 4.0 regulations have gone into full effect, which means even tighter compliance for fuel operators. The latest changes are pushing businesses into the future of payment security.

As BizTech notes, PCI DSS 4.0 introduces 64 new requirements across 12 key areas, ranging from risk assessment to data management, which merchants need to track.

Hardening your payment security is an ongoing priority in the fuel industry. With skimming threats, offline challenges, and increasingly sophisticated fraud tactics targeting both in-store and unattended payment terminals, retailers benefit from proactive PCI compliance.

However, you don’t have to navigate it alone. Here’s what mid-market operators need to know to stay in compliance and protect their businesses and customers from fraud.

PCI DSS: What fuel operators need to know about 4.0

The PCI DSS was launched to make sure retailers securely handled credit card and payment card information. For fuel retailers, this means security standards touch every terminal, including in-store, pay-at-pump, and unattended kiosks, as well as loyalty programs and back-office functions.

PCI DSS 4.0 went into effect on March 31, 2025, and fuel operators face new expectations that span software, hardware, and network security. While the full scope of changes can be viewed at the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) resource hub, here’s a quick summary of the big changes:

• Even stronger requirements for password complexity, access management, and multi-factor authentication
• Enhanced expectations around secure software development and lifecycle validation
• Continuous logging and monitoring protocols
• Great move toward end-to-end encryption (E2EE) and point-to-point encryption (P2PE)
• PCI DSS compliance that works across the technology stack
• More robust training and awareness support for staff
• Complete audits, self-certified validations, and/or penetration testing, depending on the size of your business

Meeting PCI compliance for convenience store and fuel operations has particular challenges. Payment infrastructure may be spread across hundreds of endpoints, some in harsh environments, which now have to meet these higher standards.

That’s where having a provider like Verifone comes in. Verifone's fuel retail solutions are certified across every PCI SSC category. This includes PCI SSC PIN Transaction Security (PTS) on terminals and PCI Software Security Framework (SSF) and Secure Software Lifecycle (SLC) validations on c-store applications and software development processes.

Verifone's leadership in this area is reinforced by deep roots in the PCI community, including active representation on the PCI SSC board. Every Verifone solution is designed to support the unique needs of PCI DSS 4.0 compliance, delivered in alignment with the market’s specific requirements.

Understanding the unique fraud and security landscape in fuel retail

Card fraud in the fuel sector is a multimillion-dollar problem, with skimming alone representing a $1 billion challenge nationally.

Industry analysts often rank gas stations among the most targeted environments for card skimming and transactional fraud. Situational factors that make them big targets include:

• Unattended terminals for paying at the pump or other solutions for services like car washes
• Legacy systems that may have limited or outdated security and encryption data
• Offline transactions where fraud isn’t processed for hours or even days

While solutions like EMV chips can help, they don’t solve the entire problem. One recent example of fraud in action involved criminals using contactless EMV simulators on mobile devices to repeatedly authorize gas transactions at unattended terminals in $75 bursts. The hardware performed correctly, but the fraud escaped notice until long after the fuel was gone.

PCI DSS 4.0 compliant solutions can help by giving businesses better visibility and control. The Verifone M425 terminal, for example, offers real-time monitoring and built-in anti-skimming defenses to help protect merchants and their customers. In addition, Verifone generates exception reports that retailers can review to quickly spot suspicious patterns before they become a systemic challenge.

The challenges of offline, unattended payment options

In some cases, convenience stores or fuel stops that are very out of the way rely on offline transactions. When a payment card is accepted but not immediately authorized, it offers criminals a potential window to strike. This can happen in a variety of situations, such as when:

• A pump loses connectivity but continues accepting credit cards and debit cards
• The transactions are locally stored and batch processed hours later
• A criminal uses a cloned card—by the time the transaction is identified and denied, the problem has already occurred

Protecting against these scenarios is critical for merchants, and following PCI compliance guidelines can help.

Securing unattended payments infrastructure

For unattended payments, there are several steps you can take to minimize risk:

• Set up terminals with real-time authorization whenever possible.
• Choose a provider that gives you access to reports on all queued and failed transactions.
• Review exception reports from payment providers promptly and flag issues you see immediately.
• Explore solutions like Verifone’s secure transaction framework, which supports fraud alerting, logging, and integrated management.

Verifone partners with Bluefin for validated P2PE and Fiserv for TAVE encryption for layered protections. With the right solutions in place, it’s possible to reduce your PCI DSS audit scope while protecting your business against increasingly sophisticated attacks.

Creating your PCI DSS 4.0 compliance plan

While PCI DSS 4.0 compliance is now in-market, many mid-market fuel retailers are still catching up. The reality is they operate with lean IT teams or contract support, aging infrastructure, and a mindset of not fixing things until they break. But when it comes to PCI DSS 4.0, standing still is falling behind.

Some questions to ask yourself about potential gaps include:

• Is our point-of-sale (POS) software current and validated under PCI SSF?
• Are our payment terminals PCI DSS compliant and backed by partners who understand current requirements?
• Do we rely on managed network service providers that are PCI DSS compliant and familiar with our industry?
• Are our help desk connections secure, and are our logs centralized for audit readiness?

Verifone helps close those gaps. Our software updates are built with secure lifecycle standards, network requirements support strong perimeter controls, and tools like VHQ and help desk remote support are PCI DSS AoC certified.

How Verifone simplifies PCI compliance

Verifone has deep PCI DSS 4.0 compliance in fuel retail that’s integrated at every level:

• Hardware that resists tampering: Verifone terminals only run signed software on a customized, secure Linux OS to prevent unauthorized applications.
• C-store applications that are tailored and validated: Verifone software is rigorously tested and listed on the PCI portal.
• Encrypted transaction pathways: Fiserv TAVE and Bluefin P2PE encryption reduce audit scope and boost data protection.
• Certified managed network service providers (MNSPs): Retailers must use Verifone-approved MNSPs that enforce strict traffic rules, making it easier to support PCI compliance at the network level.
• Daily exception reporting and fraud detection: Ongoing exception reporting and AI-fraud detection tools help merchants find and stop fraud faster.
• Built-in audit support: Verifone help desk and device management tools are PCI DSS certified, minimizing gaps during your audit.

Getting started with PCI DSS 4.0 compliance

Ultimately, mastering PCI compliance isn’t just passing an audit. A strong PCI DSS 4.0 strategy can help protect your customers and your bottom line.

Fuel retailers that choose the right software and hardware for meeting these guidelines can process payments securely, win customer loyalty, and grow their business safely. With deep PCI roots, modern hardware, validated software, and a security roadmap that's building tools to keep up with new security threats, Verifone can help you get there. 

Learn more about our fuel-industry focused solutions today.